Our Christmas Morning - 2010

It must be Christmas morning because the Darnell family are wearing their matching pajamas...
In 2008, I was surprised when Daddy agreed to wear matching pajamas on Christmas morning. And now here we are in 2010! We have reached our third Christmas morning in Christmas pajamas, I actually think Daddy is starting to enjoy our tradition even though he may not admit it. Click here to see the 2008 photo. Click here to see the 2009 photo.

After we took our Christmas morning photo, the boys headed over to check out their stockings...

The boys were so excited to see everything. Wes discovered a book in his stocking was caught here saying "ooohhh, a booooook!" He was thrilled with everything...

This picture may have not captured his excitement, the boys were excited about their new socks (in Wes' hand) found in their stockings...

Santa must also think the boys are ready to graduate to Big Boy status because he left real big boy underwear for all of the boys...

"Right on Time" I guess this means we need to determine the 'right time' to actually give the new underwear a try. GULP...

Andrew loved his new Buzz Lightyear hat...

We can't forget the best part of the stockings.... the candy... The boys started opening their presents to find some new bath loofahs; Toy Story, Sponge Bob and Cars...

The boys then moved onto their other gifts from Santa.... Kung Zhu pets...

Along with the Kung Zhu pets, the boys also received the Battle Arena and some other accessories. Daddy and his helpers started putting everything together...

Wes - "Daddy do you need the instructions?"

The boys also received another 'Grandma book' on Christmas morning. Last Christmas, the boys received "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" that was narrated by Grandma. They love this book and went through a phase in which they demanded it every night for several months. The new book is "Frosty the Snowman." Jared seen below 'reading' Grandma's book...

Well, that's it! All of the excitement leading up to Christmas was amazing to experience with the boys. They were overwhelmed with all of the gifts from family and Santa. Apparently Wes wanted some more because he wanted to hang his stocking back up for some more presents...

Once we had opened all our presents, we started watching Monsters, Inc that Pooka gave to us. By the end of the Christmas weekend, we had watched Monsters, Inc probably 5 times. However, there is nothing better than cuddling up with the boys to watch a movie, even if we have already seen it 1,000 times. Seriously, can you beat this... Christmas morning is complete. The next event on the list is Christmas dinner with family at Uncle Lance and Aunt Kim's house.

Merry Christmas from the Darnell Family!

Take care,

Jingle Bells!

The boys are really enjoying this holiday season. They have even embraced the Christmas spirit by singing Christmas carols. Their favorite song is Jingle Bells. If we listen to Christmas music they are constantly requesting Jingle Bells. They have even learned the words. Here are the Darnell boys with their 'bouncing' rendition of Jingle Bells. Listen closely and you may actually hear all the words...

Merry Christmas from our little family to yours!

Take care,

Jared's Car Detailing!

Jared is getting ready to open his new business! The boys are always excited when they get their hands on one of the diaper wipes. They will grab it, run and wash windows, tables or the walls. On this morning, Jared focused his energy on cleaning his trucks. He spent about 20 minutes (if not more) cleaning these trucks. He was so focused and precise! He is such a perfectionist, more evidence that he is a carbon copy of his DADDY!!! It is important to note that Wes and Andrew were bouncing around behind the camera while I was filming this. Jared is usually the calm in our little storm!

Take care,

Our First Graduation Day!

In January of this year, we took Jared for a communication evaluation that changed our world as the words "Autism Spectrum Disorder" were used to describe Jared's speech delay. A very close friend helped us connect to Mary Pellegrino. Ms. Mary confirmed that Jared had a significant delay in his expressive language but did not have any concerns regarding Autism. She recommended Jared begin speech sessions 2x per week. On February 1 of this year, Jared started his speech 'classes.'

Daddy has been feeling under the weather for a few days. On Monday, he called in sick! That means that Mommy gets to call in sick to work and stay home with the boys. Monday is a very busy day for the boys as Jared has speech in the morning and then the boys have Musikgarten class at 12:10pm. When Daddy told me that I needed to stay home, he asked me if he should call and cancel Jared's speech. Huh? I told Daddy, even though I am a substitute parent for the day, I was able to follow the curriculum.

Our first stop of the day was speech class. I managed to get everyone to the speech appointment on time. The boys have collectively enjoyed going to speech for some time. The sessions initially focused on Jared only. Once Jared began to blossom, his sessions included one of his brothers. This was to help build Jared's confidence and improve his ability to assert himself with his highly dominant and assertive brothers.

When we arrived, the boys saw Ms. Ashley, Jared's 'teacher' in the waiting room. Ms. Ashley informed me that she would not be with the boys today as I was going to meet with Ms. Mary to review Jared's recent testing. When Ms. Mary came out, she brought all of us back to her office. She immediately handed me his evaluation and told me that Jared has surpassed all of the goals they had for him and she was going to recommend a follow-up evaluation in 6 months. It took me a second to realize that she had just informed me that Jared was being discharged.

I had to catch my breath as my mind flashed back to just over 10 months ago when I sat with her in the same office thinking that my child was going to struggle with Autism. Now, I sit here with an evaluation in hand that shows his expressive language scoring at the age equivalent of 3 years and 3 months when he was evaluated at 2 years and 6 months. In January, is expressive language was 10 months when he was 21 months old. It is amazing at how far he has come in such a short period of time!

As this meeting came as a surprise, I am so happy that I was there with him on this day! It was GRADUATION DAY! After I regained my composure, we talked about all the boys and how wonderful they are.... I must agree! Ms. Mary gave all of the boys books before we left and I was able to take a picture of the boys with Ms. Mary.

Jared saw a few different 'teachers' at Ms. Mary's during his time with her. His primary 'teachers' were Ms. Cara and Ms. Ashley. Ms. Cara was his first teacher and the one that he initially warmed up too and started to talk. When she took another job, he transitioned to Ms. Ashley. As all the boys started participating in the sessions with Ms. Ashley, they all knew and enjoyed playing with Ms. Ashley. Here are the boys with Ms. Ashely...

After receiving such good news, I decided we needed to CELEBRATE! Daddy was home sick so I was on my own to celebrate. Instead of heading home for breakfast, I decided to take the boys out to breakfast..... in a restaurant.... by MYSELF!!
We had breakfast at the Village Inn. We attracted a lot of attention but had a very pleasant breakfast. The boys were on their best behavior and we enjoyed our time together. I am sure that Daddy also enjoyed resting at home with the house nice and quiet. The big treat for my graduate was a nice mug of Hot Chocolate!

I am so thankful that we were able to get Jared the help to find his words when he was very young. He enjoyed his speech 'classes' and had a lot of fun over the past 10 months. He never felt pressured and was so young that he enjoyed the one on one time without realizing what was really happening. We now have this phase of our life behind us. Jared is so smart and I am pleased that he is able to share his thoughts with us.

We love you Jared and are so very proud of you!

Happy Graduation!

Take care,

A Weekend of Christmas Fun!

At work on Friday, a co-worker mentioned a Victorian Christmas event in Thomasville, GA. She mentioned some snow, Victoria Christmas Carolers, sidewalk vendors, street performers and horse drawn carriage rides. I immediately sent a message to Mike to see if he was up to taking the boys the 45 minute drive to Thomasville for this event. He has been feeling under the weather so I was not expecting a positive response. However, he responded 'sure.' So, it was on, we were going!

We loaded up the crew and started our 45 minute drive. It turned into 1.5 hour drive as we encountered rush hour traffic on the north side of town. However, we kept driving!

We arrived and the first thing we saw was the snow! The boys were in awe of the snow.... We stood and watched the kids play in the snow for a while. What sounded like a really neat idea did not turn out to be as wonderful as I thought. The snow was all packed into an ice mound, the 'kids' in the snow area were engaged in a really rough snowball fight and the kids in the snow area were getting all wet. Since it was in the low 40s, we decided getting wet was not a good idea. So, we watched! The boys enjoyed catching parts of snow (ice) balls and throwing back into the 'kiddie' area....

We ate dinner (at Subway) and then walked the street. It was crowded and there were not as many performers as I had expected. However, the evening was saved when we made it all the way to the horse drawn carriage rides. We had to wait a while for our turn but once we made it onto the carriage, it was all worth it.

The boys waited patiently for most of our wait. There were a few escape attempts by Wesley but we made it onto the carriage with all three of the boys. No boys were lost while waiting!
We all loaded up into our carriage and bundled up in our blankets. Jared did not initially want to be covered with the blanket but once we started moving, he wanted some blanket. Daddy and Andrew...

Mommy, Wes and Jared (over cheesing!)....

We rode around a saw Christmas lights, waved to people on the street and had a wonderful time. Annie, our horse, was a good horse! She carried us well and the boys would tell Annie when she encountered a red or green light, what to do. They would also yell, 'Go Annie Go' to keep her moving. It's a good thing we had the boys with us or we may have just sat still! Once the ride was over, all the boys were able to pet Annie, our trusted steed....

We made the trip without our stroller and there was a lot of walking because we parked several blocks away from the event. The boys kept up with out complaint and were great little troopers. On the ride home, Wes and Andrew were out almost immediately. Jared stayed awake on the drive home asking for his favorite Christmas carols, Jingle Bells and Reindeer (as in Rudolph the Red Nosed).

On Sunday, we loaded up the boys for another Christmas adventure. We headed out after dinner to see the Christmas lights display at Dorothy B. Oven park. On this night, it was 40 degrees when we left the house and the temp was dropping. So, it is safe to say we were out in 30 degree weather. To keep warm, the boys had hot chocolate on drive to the park. Jared (over cheesing again!) and Andrew on the ride to the park enjoying their hot chocolate...

The park was lovely and had so many lights! In addition, there was an area with a sleigh and train which was perfect for taking pictures.

After a few pictures, the boys were ready (more than ready) to explore and discover all the lights. We stumbled upon one more photo moment with this swing. The boys are finally getting the hang of taking group pictures. We can tell them we want a picture and they will (sometimes) gather up and even smile while yelling in unison.... CHEEEEEEESSSSEEEEE! It's great!

This is a full picture of the area with the swing....

The lights at the park were beautiful and very festive. They had music playing and it was much more than I could have expected. The boys were so excited to see the Christmas lights so close. I can not really find the right words to explain how excited they were so I took some video. This is some video of the boys exploring the park....

As we were able to walk around the lights display, we had to say 'don't touch' quite a bit. However, we left the park without destroying any display and only saying 'don't touch' about 500 times. As I expected to say it near 1,000 times, I will call this evening a success.

To use one of the boys' favorite phrases, it is 'awesome and amazing' to experience the holidays through the eyes of the boys. I do not think I will ever look at Christmas lights without thinking back to their excitement from this evening.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

Take care,

Christmas Tree Shopping - 2010

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas!! The time has finally come in which we head out as a family and select that perfect Christmas tree to become part of our family. It was actually cold this year so we bundled up the boys and headed out to our local tree farm (or Home Depot).

Wes tried to be stylish by pushing his hat up over his ears. Little did he know it really made him look like our very own little Christmas elf...
The boys were excited to participate in selecting our Christmas tree. They had their very own special style for 'testing' out the tree quality...

Andrew preferred to lasso a tree...

Actually, all the boys were more interested in playing with all of the excess rope laying around. I should also point out that even Daddy had his head covered. Yep, it was cold! Really cold, not just 'Florida cold.' It was probably in the low 40s on this day, in early December... very rare...

The most important test the tree had to endure was to survive a battle with the boys. Andrew started this and then the other boys joined in quickly. Only the strongest tree will survive and come home with us! I think we found the winner...

Yep, that is the one! Here are the boys with our 2010 Christmas tree that they helped pick...

The fun did not end there! The boys had to supervise the tree through the out processing. First a little clean up for the trunk...

Then a fresh cut... ooooooohhhhh, a chainsaw...

Then, the tree was 'bagged' up for the trip home. The boys applaud the success...

Of course this item said, "Do not ride" but that did not stop our boys from exploring the joys of this people mover. I think this may be a new triplet stroller, eh?

We are done! The tree is secured to the truck and we are ready for our trip home. Look Daddy even mustered up a smile... this must have been a fun outing. Every time I see a tree on top of the truck, I will reflect on Christmas 2008 when the tree fell off the truck in the middle of traffic. Great family story!

Our big 'cheesers' had a great time!

It is so much fun to experience Christmas with the boys as they are starting to understand and also get excited about Christmas. While the boys are getting older, this Christmas tree will still reside in an area of the house that is protected from little hands. The tree may have been the strongest in the lot but I don't think there is a tree out there that would survive long term exposure to three 2.5 year old boys. Don't worry Christmas tree, we will protect you!

Take care,